O MY Allah jee.

And today I come back my Allah, 

From a darkness beyond limits

My heart is broken and I’m confused

And I’m the drowned one 

       and I can’t see a savior for me except You

No fleeing from You

        No asylum except You

i dont care

four things

Mankind does not tolerate  these four blessings from Allah (swt) easily and they are (1) Daughter (2) Guest (3) Rain (4) Disease.


Man accepts these four  things happily, though it takes away him from Allah's mercy and they are (1) Interest Money (2) Dowry (3) Back biting (4) Lies.

The Benefits of Winter

Qalb al-Ikhlas ♥: The Benefits of Winter: It is reported from Abû Hurayrah – Allâh be pleased with him – that he said: Shall I not point you to comfortable proceeds? People respon...

Muharram: The Start of the Islamic Calendar

Muharram: The Start of the Islamic Calendar 

By: Muhammad Taqi Usmani 

Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, "The number of the months according to Allah is twelve months (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day in which He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified".

These four months, according to the authentic traditions are the months of Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Holy Quran are unanimous on this point, because the Holy Prophet  in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, has declared:

"One year consists of twelve months, of which four are sanctified months, three of them are in sequence; Zulqadah, Zulhijjah, Muharram, and the fourth is Rajab."

The specific mention of these four months does not mean that any other month has no sanctity, because the month of Ramadan is admittedly the most sanctified month in the year. But these four months were specifically termed as sanctified months for the simple reason that their sanctity was accepted even by the pagans of Makkah.

In fact, every month, out of the twelve, is originally equal to the other, and there is no inherent sanctity, which may be attributed to one of them in comparison to other months. When Allah Almighty chooses a particular time for His special blessings, then it acquires sanctity out of His grace.

Thus, the sanctity of these four months was recognized right from the days of Sayyidina Ibrahim. Since the Pagans of Makkah attributed themselves to Sayyidina Ibrahim they observed the sanctity of these four months and despite their frequent tribal battles, they held it unlawful to fight in these months.

In the Shariah of our Holy Prophet  the sanctity of these months was upheld and the Holy Quran referred to them as the "sanctified months".

The month of Muharram has certain other characteristics peculiar to it, which are specified below.

Fasting during the month

The Holy Prophet  has said:

"The best fasts after the fasts of Ramadan are those of the month of Muharram."

Although the fasts of the month of Muharram are not obligatory, yet, the one who fasts in these days out of his own will and choice is entitled to a great reward by Allah Almighty. The Hadith cited above signifies that the fasts of the month of Muharram are most reward-able ones among the Nafl fasts i.e. the fasts one observes out of his own choice without being obligatory on him.

The Hadith does not mean that the award promised for fasts of Muharram can be achieved only by fasting for the whole month. On the contrary, each fast during this month has merit. Therefore, one should avail of this opportunity as much as he can.

The day of Ashurah

Although the month of Muharram is a sanctified month as a whole, yet, the 10th day of Muharram is the most sacred among all its days. The day is named Ashurah.

According to the Holy companion Ibn Abbas. The Holy Prophet , when migrated to Madinah, found that  the Jews of Madinah used to fast on the 10th day of Muharram. They said that it was the day on which the Holy Prophet Musa (Moses) and his followers crossed the Red Sea miraculously and the Pharaoh was drowned in its water.

On hearing this from the Jews, the Holy Prophet  said, "We are more closely related to Musa than you" and directed the Muslims to fast on the day of Ashurah. (Abu Dawood)

It is also reported in a number of authentic traditions that in the beginning, fasting on the day of Ashurah was obligatory for the Muslims.

It was later that the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory and the fast on the day of ''Ashurah was made optional. Sayyidah Aishah has said:

"When the Holy Prophet  came to Madinah, he fasted on the day of Ashurahh and directed the people to fast it. But when the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory, the obligation of fasting was confined to Ramadan and the obligatory nature of the fast of Ashurah was abandoned. One can fast on this day, if he so wills, or can avoid fasting, if he so wills."

However, the Holy Prophet  used to fast on the day of Ashurah even after the fasting in Ramadan was made obligatory.

Abdullah Ibn Masud reports that the Holy Prophet  preferred the fast of Ashurah to the fast of other days and preferred the fast of Ramadhan to the fast of Ashurahh. (Bukhari and Muslim)

In short, it is established through a number of authentic hadith that fasting on the day of Ashurah is Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  and makes one entitled to a great reward.

According to another Hadith, it is more advisable that the fast of  Ashurah should either be prefixed or suffixed by another fast. It means that one should fast two days: the 9th an 10th of Muharram or the 10th and 11th of it. The reason of this additional fast as mentioned by the Holy Prophet  is that the Jews used to fast on the day  of Ashurah alone, and the Holy Prophet  wanted to distinguish the Islamic-way of fasting from that of Jews. Therefore, he advised the Muslims to add another fast to that of Ashurah.

Some traditions signify another feature of the day of Ashurah.

According to these traditions one should be more generous to his family by providing more food to them on this day as compared to other days. These traditions are not very authentic according to the science of Hadith. Yet, some Scholars like Baihaqi and Ibn Hibban have accepted them as reliable.

 

However, there are some legends and misconceptions with regard to Ashurah that have managed to find their way into the minds of the ignorant, but have no support of authentic Islamic sources, some very common of them are these:

This is the day in which Adam was created.

This is the day in which Ibrahim was born.

This is the day in which Allah accepted the repentance of Sayyidina Ibrahim         .

This is the day on which the Qiyamah (dooms-day) will take place.

Whoever takes bath in the day of Ashurah will never get ill.

All these and other similar whims and fancies are totally baseless and  the traditions referred to in this respect are not worthy of any credit.

Some people take it as Sunnah to prepare a particular type of meal in the day of Ashurah. This practice, too, has no basis in the authentic Islamic sources.

Some other people attribute the sanctity of Ashurah to the martyrdom of Sayyidina Husain during his battle with the Syrian army. No doubt, the martyrdom of Sayyidina Husain is one of the most tragic episodes of our history. Yet, the sanctity of Ashurah cannot be ascribed to this event for the simple reason that the sanctity of 'Ashurah was established during the days of the Holy Prophet  much earlier than the birth of Sayyidna Husain.

On the contrary, it is one of the merits of Sayyidna Husain that his martyrdom took place on the day of Ashurah.

Another misconception about the month of Muharram is that it is an evil or unlucky month, for Sayyidna Husain was killed in it. It is for this misconception that people avoid holding marriage ceremonies in the month of Muharram. This is again a baseless concept which is contrary to the express teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah. Such superstitions have been totally negated by the Holy Prophet . If the death of an eminent person in a particular day renders that day unlucky for all times to come, one can hardly find a day, free from this bad luck, out of 365 days of the whole year, because each and every day has a history of the demise of some eminent person. The Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet  have made us free from such superstitious beliefs, and they should deserve no attention.

Another wrong practice related to this month is to hold the lamentation and mourning ceremonies in the memory of martyrdom of Sayyidna Husain.

As mentioned earlier, the event of Karbala is one of the most tragic events of our history, but the Holy Prophet  has forbidden us from holding the mourning ceremonies on the death of any person. The people of Jahiliyyah (Ignorance) used to mourn over their deceased relatives or friends through loud lamentations, by tearing their clothes and by beating their cheeks and chests. The Holy Prophet  stopped the Muslims from doing all this and directed them to observe patience by saying "Inna lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raaji oon". A number of authentic hadith are available on the subject.

To quote only one of them:

"He is not from our group who slaps his cheeks, tears his clothes and cries in the manner of the people of jahiliyyah."

All the authentic jurists are unanimous on the point that the mourning of this type is absolutely impermissible. Even Sayyidna Husain shortly before his demise, had advised his beloved sister Sayyidah Zainab not to mourn over his death in this manner. He said:

"My dear sister, I swear upon you that you, in case I die, shall not tear your clothes, nor scratch your face, nor curse anyone for me or pray for your death".

It is evident from this advice of Sayyidna Husain that this type of mourning is condemned even by the blessed person for the memory of whom these mourning ceremonies are held. Every Muslim should avoid this practice and abide by the teachings of the Holy Prophet and his beloved grand child Sayyidina Husain.

Blessings of Muharram

It is the first month of the Islamic Calendar.

The meaning of the word:- The word "Muharram" means "Forbidden." Even before Islam, this month was always known as a scared month in which all unlawful acts were forbidden, prominently the shedding of blood.

A blessing of Muharram:- There are many bounties of this month, especially the tenth of Muharram.

Two of the many virtues of the 10th of Muharram:-

On this day he who spends more lavishly for the sake of his family members, Allah Taala will bestow blessing upon the sustenance of the following year.

Abu Qataada has related that the Prophet  has reported to have said, It is my thought that by fasting  on the 10th of Muharram Allah Taala will pardon the sins of the past  year.(Tirmizi)

Events of Muharram

Hadhrat Hussain was martyred in this month.

Shaykhain Tirmizi & Haakim has narrated from Anas that the following verse:

"Allah may forgive thee of thy sins that which is past and that which  is to come." (Al-Fath)was revealed on the 10th of Muharram.

The Prophet Muhammed  went to defeat Bani Muhaarin and Bani Tha'laba (Tribes of Bani Gatfan) in the year 4 A.H. (Asahhus-siyar)

meri aankhon ki thandak

treat for your eyes :)
http://navedz.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/picture-perfect-the-majestic-house-of-allah/

haji sahab!

sadqay qurbaan. mashaAllah :)

A Happy Formula

A Happy Formula
via Haq Islam

يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِى عَلَى دِينِكَ

Ya nafsy how meager your suffering,
Wherefore do you lose your way?

takbeer of tashreeq

when you are a kid, and you are happy, and you don't know it :) :)

this one's for my number 10!

For Women only!!!

Ya Ilaahi - once again.

I committed a big sin,
And I am inside my sadness a captive,

Chained by the sin O my Rabb,
Does the sinner deserve forgiveness, O my Ilaah?

I admit my sins, O my Ilaah
You are the one who created, mercied and blessed me,
All the time you were with me, O my Rabb.

However, I went far away from you and forgot your rights,
And waked on my way, O my Ilaah.

And today O my Rabb,
I come back from a darkness beyond the boundaries,
The heart is broken and my sight is confused.
And I am sinking and see no one but you to rescue me,
No help except you,
O my Ilaah, O my Ilaah

Zulm - II

lied, lied and lied again
lie over lie and lie again
all your niceties and charm go down the drain
when the tongue knows no restraint


then the going gets tough
and no one trusts you anymore
you must shut out your gang of girls
you must take the plunge after you soar


it's time to retrace steps and take back all the tales
the gossip, the slander, the lies, the chit-chats, the mails
it's time to pay the price of all the fun the tongue had
you have been struck with the very words you forged into a fad

your tongue is hesitating to do taubah
look how venomous your ego brought it up as
you must bow your head, you must bend your back
in that humbling posture you must sag
your heart must melt
your heart must beat again
your eyes shall see
your tears shall revive your dead skin


and when your lips will move in that sajdah
as your nose rubs against the mat
your tongue will break loose
and submit to Him Who Doesn't Refuse


time to do taubah to The Tawwaab
it's time to silently remember Him
amidst the slow rhythm of the heart
beating against your ear drum
your tongue will be humbled to see
itself and the qalb succumb

Zulm - I

we make simple things complex
then make that complex our lifestyle
then we encounter the same simple things again
which seem to us to be complex

this is one of the many illustrations of the zulm that we do on our ownselves.

My little burger paté experience

as the series of my lessons continue for practical life ahead, today was my day out grocery-shopping and murghi-buying. as i made way through the plethora of flies and entered khalid sahab's chicken "shaap", i knew this was going to be one good experience for life. i could hear the puk-puk of chickens from above me, from my left and right sides too. so many white murghis had jam packed behind the black bars against a wall with a sign that told us they are 115 rupees per kg. for today only.

my father asked the butcher - a man with an orange shirt, red hands amd no gloves - to prepare 1.5 kg chick for us. as he held, put back and repeated the exercise to find the "perfect" one from them white ones for us, i started my own guesswork on who it shall be that will be my burger paté. the one who got chosen was then taken out of the cage, khalid sahab weighed her, and that's the last i saw of the murghi.alive. i shut my eyes and heard bismiLLAHI Allahu Akbar! i turned my head the other way..eyes still tightly shut.

Allahu Akbar! how important is this statement for some. for many of us it's something inserted in place of commas and full stops in our daily conversations. for some, its the last thing they get to hear before reaching that Allah Who is Akbar.

RASOOLULLAH صلى الله عليه وسلم

salaam us  صلى الله عليه وسلم par keh jis ne khoon ke pyaason ko dawai dee

salaam us (s.w) par keh jis ne gaaliyaan sun kar duain dee

salaam us (s.w) par keh jis ne fazal ke moti bikhere hain

salaam us (s.w) par buron ko jis ne farmaya keh "meray hain"

back to the basics

sometimes all you need is a plain background, a bit of blue, a clear mind, and a simple life. maybe all the time.

Remembrance of Allah - Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed - October 15, 2011

Link to download Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed's beautiful talk on

Dhikr - Remembrance of Allah Ta'ala
 
dated 15th October 2011.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10399817/Dhikr%20-%20Shaykh%20Kamaluddin%20Ahmed%20-%2015.10.2011.wma

don't miss the beautiful dua in the end.

AllahuAkbar.

the most difficult thing for a man to do, and my Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did it: Realise the truth and act accordingly.

interesting article with a video from Madinah Munawwarah
http://beliefinunseen.blogspot.com/2011/10/maghrib-prayer-in-madina-and-discipline.html

The Most Important Question

The most important question in our lives. Something i wrote in 2010. Involves shariati, tolstoy, frankl, ghazali (r.a), a bit of hajj, suffering, pain, love. life. past. desires. centre. submission. time and space. a bit of all that, and a bit more.

This paper aims to discuss the most important question a human being needs to answer, as posed by Tolstoy and Shariati and other thinkers such as al-Ghazali and Frankl . It will compare and discuss the answers found in the lives of ordinary people, as Shariati and Tolstoy propose, and contrast these with the answers given by science and art, which the two thinkers reject as unsatisfactory. It then moves on to discuss how the acts of Hajj make one return to the primary identity of an ordinary man and answer the essential question and other questions that follow. I will conclude by proposing that though the question discussed throughout the paper seems inescapable, there is still one force that can render it (and then in fact any question) irrelevant, making the insights offered by Shariati and Tolstoy to be as futile as they are helpful.

First off, what is it that every person would want to have an answer for? This question, which cannot be ignored or suppressed by man, as it could not be by the authors under discussion, pertains to the self. It can be put into one word in its broadest sense: “Why?”. While “how” asks about the steps, procedures, stages of development and process of a phenomenon, and “what” calls for its definition and description, “why” demands an explanation of its meaning. It asks for a reason, a motivation or a purpose, and if a human being keeps asking it for any and everything he does, he regresses back to asking ‘why the self?’. So while the most important question can be put in a generic word “why”, it can put in a sentence as Tolstoy puts it: “what is the meaning of life?”(Briggs ed. 130). This is the most important question, for in knowing the meaning of life lies knowing the meaning of death, of a higher cause, of a transcendental ideal, and of man’s relation with space and time, finite and the infinite. There are many ways of asking this same question, such as why does man live, what is the purpose of life, what is achieved by some actions or intentions. All of these boil down to one question that both Tolstoy and Shariati consider as inevitable, although they diverge with respect to their approach towards the queries it further sets and directs.

Tolstoy, when he asks for a reason underlying his actions, values, worth and eventually life, directs his efforts in pursuit of knowing the meaning of life as well as death, seemingly suggesting that if one understands the meaning of death, one can understand life . This is from where he brings in the notion of infinite and finite: while man lives for a finite amount of time, he dies for an apparently infinite period. Similarly, while reason – measurable and applicable – is finitely possessed by man, it cannot be used to explain the infinite phenomenon of man’s existence. Man’s life is finite, bound by space and time, which are whole and infinite. Thus, the next pressing question for Tolstoy is that what is the relationship between the finite and the infinite; in other words, what is the position of man in the universe of existence, cause, time and space? This question becomes important as another way of asking the meaning of life.

Shariati, however, chooses to ask a different set of questions supplementary to the question about the meaning of life. He concerns himself more with the purpose and end outcome of actions – whether or not they have been successful in achieving the intent and aim of the actor. For Shariati, another way of asking the meaning of life is how closely has it been lived to its purpose. The question “for whom?” is life being lived runs parallel to the question of “why is life lived?”. Hence, we see that Shariati, unlike Tolstoy, starts with a basic first assumption that there is a centre, an unmoving, unchanging cause, who is True, Good and Beautiful at the same time; this centre is not open to man to set in anything. Asking the meaning of life is actually asking the proximity of one’s life – in word, action or intent – to this centre – God. While Tolstoy’s question is about the meaning of life as a whole, Shariati’s question is about the meaning of the same life as an aggregate sum of actions, behaviors and intentions. This is indicative in Shariati’s notion of life as a constant movement and approach towards the centre . Tolstoy’s treatment of the question of life suggests life to be the centre, capable of having a position of its own and a relation with other phenomena, whereas Shariati would argue that the question asks about the meaning of life vis-à-vis a centre external to the self. For Shariati, the tool for measuring the meaning or value of life is already present. When Tolstoy says, “To know God and to live is one and the same thing. God is life” (161), he brings the meaning of life along with the meaning of something else, which is external to it: God. To ask the meaning of life therefore necessitates asking the meaning of God too. Shariati would be far from questioning in the same manner, for while he would ask the meaning of life, he would foreclose questioning the meaning of the centre that is external to it.

Frankl approaches the question on meaning of life on the premise that man has to find the meaning himself (Frankl 133), and this meaning can be found in multiple sources – sometimes in suffering, sometimes in the past, at other times in the future. This suggests that for Frankl, the most important question gets different answers at different points in life, as meanings and their sources can change. The idea that meaning of life can be set at an individual’s own discretion and can (and inevitably does) change implies that life is a sum of actions and knowing the meaning of life means knowing the meaning of these actions and decisions at various, separate stages in life. This makes Frankl’s approach similar to Shariati’s, except with the fine difference that the centre – the true, good and beautiful – can keep changing for Frankl, while for Shariati, it is fixed. Interestingly, we can find traces of al-Ghazali’s approach towards the question of the meaning of life in Tolstoy's position, demanding a more abstract and fixed answer. Al-Ghazali knew his actions and intentions, but he himself could not place meanings in them separately, piece by piece, before he could find a broader meaning of knowledge and life (al-Ghazali 20). Like Tolstoy, he held it necessary that life be treated as a whole and meaning first has to be found in the whole to then be extracted and applied to separate actions such as worship, seclusion, resuming teaching and so on.

Despite their differences on direction and approach towards the same question on the meaning of life, both Tolstoy and Shariati agree on finding the answers in the lives of the ordinary people. These people are described by Tolstoy as simple, uneducated poor, who have neither the wisdom or insights of Solomon, Sakya Muni (Buddha), Schopenhauer, or Socrates, nor the rational knowledge or reason that education can instill in one. These people do not have anything to be vain about, and to Tolstoy’s surprise, nothing to be sad about either, though their lifestyles were those which the elite would consider as tough luck, misfortune, and deplorable. This category of ‘others’ is pushed to the margin by rationality, aesthetics, objectivity and education, and ignored when the society seeks the meaning of life from the hard sciences and liberal arts.

Hard sciences – at the extreme of which is mathematics – understands everything to be dictated by the universal laws of nature which capture all that there ever was, is and will be. The enormous predicting power that these laws afford to man leads to tendency to give clear-cut answers to everything – from meaning of a particular life to meaning of life in general. However, while laws of mutation can help explain ‘how’ we live and ‘what’ makes us live, they do not suffice to answer ‘why’ these laws exist in the first place to enable us to keep living. This inadequacy of science, masked by the label of objectivity and rationality, causes a world of binaries to exist, with science, rationality, objectivity and predictive power on one side, and abstraction, emotions and essence of being on the other side. According to Tolstoy, science attempts to fit life into a general standard model of cause and effect (135), but in its efforts, science violates the essence or meaning of being before reaching it. When Tolstoy says that ‘there could be no law of endless development’ (133), he seems to have realized that science treats laws as something greater and superior to life, and life cannot and will not mean anything outside of these laws. It is a lose-lose situation: science tells us that meaning is to be found in the meaning of the laws, but laws tell us only the ‘how’ about life, so we do not get any substantial answer on the “why”. At the same time, advocates of science claim that life is not only definitely nothing and meaningless, but it is not even an actuality outside the universal laws or ‘truths’. In either case, it alludes us to the meaninglessness of life.

This is a disquieting conclusion that science offers, but Tolstoy and Shariati do not dismiss it for this uneasy belittling of life. It is rather due to the inherent flaws in definition and attitude towards science that the two thinkers confess it to be unworthy of providing the meaning of life. Firstly, we have discussed that science’s task is to discover the already present truths and laws; it does not go into the metaphysical ‘why’ of anything. This forecloses for us science as a potential source of answer. Nevertheless, one still looks for answers in science because of the attitude that one tries “to know truth by men, and not of men by the truth”, as al-Ghazali suggests (al-Ghazali 38). By this, I mean that when one witnesses the great inventions, scientism, logic and rationality applied by the human mind, one is likely to consider reason to be the great sole instrument of knowledge and truth. The general attitude then becomes that if the scientific mind has discovered the laws of nature, then it must be capable of truly identifying the meaning of life also, notwithstanding multiple faculties such as heart, nature or the lower self – that may have a role to play in finding the meaning of life. Such an approach leads one to rely on science to confirm truth claims and values rather than values and truth assessing the conclusions drawn by science. This is what Tolstoy had a problem with when he says that experimental science “displays the greatness of the human mind when it does not introduce into its investigations the question of an ultimate cause” (135). The laws hailed by science are held in abstract like a matter of pure chance, but if regression is done all the way to the first cause, science’s inherent problem is exposed because it cannot explain anything about this cause. This overlook of regression to a first cause forms another problem with science.

Liberal arts are also not free from providing unsatisfactory answers. Abstract science and liberal arts, concerned with the ideals that all humanity should uphold, claim the meaning of life to be found in those ideals. However, the first basic problem that arises is the ability of humanity to find such ideals; do any universal ideals exist at all in the first place? All man knows is his particular life and specific life experiences, so how does he know and experience which of the ideals are felt by all across the worlds? Liberal arts run the risk of generalizing the particular. As Tolstoy belonged to the educated elite and had in the past promoted culture in the name of the ideal of ‘progress’, he understood this problem like no other. The educated tend to generalize their particular beliefs and ideals across humanity, being oblivious that what may be good for the majority nevertheless is not so for the minority, however small it may be, yet the majority tries to generalize by claiming to represent all. If we have take notice of this problem, the second problem remains, viz. there are mutual contradictions embedded when we put together various ideologies within the liberal arts. If meaning of life has to be found in the liberal arts theories or ideologies, then how does one decide amongst the competing ideas? How does one establish who is wrong, who is right, and then who is most right of the right? Tolstoy realizes that if what liberal arts generally offer – that man is part of the whole and to understand the whole humanity means to understand life – he should have satiated his queries much earlier, given that he was from the field of abstract sciences and arts. Yet this was not the case, rather the meaninglessness of life was exposed. Furthermore, there are tendencies found within the discipline to give abstract and vague answers; resultantly nothing substantial can be derived to find the meaning of life.

None of this is a problem when one looks at the lives of ordinary people, for they do not rely on reason alone (as hard science does), and they do not remain vague either about the meaning of life (like liberal arts would tend to do so). Their distinguishing characteristic is that they are ordinary: there is nothing that makes them rise above or think differently from others. This mediocrity leads one to immediately find a fall in ego amongst these people, leading them to rely less on the rational self and drawing attention to other faculties ignored by sciences, such as the heart. It is through the convictions of the heart that ordinary people find the meaning of life.

What Tolstoy finds as a marked feature of these people is their irrationality called ‘faith’ firmly held in heart. Faith is an anti-thesis to ego and reliance on the self. It makes one realize that not all questions are answered by the finite ability to reason, and meaning doesn’t have to be processed and consciously determined through rationality either. Faith is manifested in many areas of the daily life – in being content with ups and downs that come one’s way, in enduring and laboring quietly, in accepting the realities without complaining or challenging fate, and most importantly, dying a peaceful death. It would be false to assume that such lifestyle stems from the inability to fight the society’s norms, or to be stupid to not have found ways to make more money and fame; it is in fact faith in that which the ordinary man holds as true, good and beautiful – God – that he learns to know his existence as it is. Faith gives a poor, unsophisticated milliard’s finite sufferings an infinite meaning. Shariati would understand this faith as ‘submission’ of man to God, in the form of him shedding his false, man-made identity and joining the league of ordinary people to be once again only the man of God. The command of God to submit is in fact a call to return to true identity precisely because it is inherent in man to submit to the cause of its existence. This inherent relationship with God is discovered by man by means of what Tolstoy calls “some despised pseudo knowledge” (148). He realized that the ordinary people, by virtue of their simplicity, seem to have discovered and unveiled this pseudo-knowledge, which is otherwise hidden to man due to vanity, love for wealth, and obsession with rationality, wrong pursuits and evil desires. This pseudo knowledge uncovers man’s chief identity of being the slave of God and is called faith by Tolstoy, while for Shariati it comprises knowledge, consciousness and love, all of which rituals performed in Hajj manifest. Whether it is called faith or submission, derived consciously or unconsciously, the fact remains that the ordinary man is not self-centered. He dies peacefully and does not look down upon anyone because he doesn’t regard the self to be the most powerful, most intelligent or the best of planners. He endures hardships because he does not consider himself to be the most deserving, most evolved of mankind. The reason why he performs Hajj as God has commanded is that he is not loyal to the self, but to God. His attitude is that of self-negation, as illustrated by Tolstoy when he says …

Ordinary people seem to have resolved the dichotomy between reason and heart, science and emotions, through the rituals performed at Hajj. Right from the very start of the Hajj, there are attempts to return to the life of an ordinary man, first by changing clothes that create distinction between humans, then by donning those clothes that symbolize uniformity. A hajji intends to go to the House of Allah, which Shariati correctly recognizes as the “House of the People”, thereby implying that in order to get close to God, one necessarily has to become more and more like one of the masses. One’s ability to reason, one’s sharp mindedness and intelligence make one distinguished, so none of that is required to reach out to God and find the meaning of life. Instead of reason, one relies on the emotions of the heart, chief of which is faith. One has faith in his mediocrity and more than that on God that He will value whatever this poor, uneducated, simple laborer has to offer Him, just the way God accepted Hajar – a black Ethiopian slave woman who completely submitted to god’s will and whose grave is next to Kabah (the House of God). The lowest of the lowly – Hajar - was valued and exalted by God all because of her complete faith in Him. In her faith lies the answer to the question of the meaning of life. Life’s meaning can neither be found in man-made ideals that liberal arts propose, nor in man’s greatness of being rational, but in something beyond that- something in man that transcends worldly standards and excellence. When the Hajji prays in Miqaat, he adopts his chief identity, dismissing man-made identities such as being an artist, scientist, Marxist, feminist, conservative, post-modernist and so on. At Miqaat, he pledges to have faith in his identity as the slave of God, which will be enough to lead him to happiness, contentment and meaning. In the state of Ihram, one keeps on returning to this identity of being one of the million slaves of God, by not looking in the mirror, not fighting with anyone, basically not doing anything that would make one’s own logic, rationality and ego come in.

Faith is most strongly reflected in Tawaf (circumambulation), wherein one moves in a circle around Kabah seven times. The meaning of life gets clear as moving in a circle symbolizes one’s life to revolve around God, Who is the centre; moving in a group reflects the importance of being one of many, of having no highlighting features, but completely submitting to God with belief that He is the true reason worthy living and dying for. In the discipline that one needs to maintain in Tawaf, lies the answer to Tolstoy’s question of man’s relation with time and space. While everything is moving and changing, we need not stop the change to reach a static meaning of life. Discipline entails handling change in the proper way and in this propriety lies the meaning of life. If meaning of life is having faith in God, as Tolstoy experienced and Shariati elucidated, then by having faith the proper way, through obedience and submission, one find the purpose of living, dying, caring, suffering, worshipping and each and every other activity. As Shariati points out that God Himself recognized that Ibrahim was not a perfect Prophet, a perfect slave until he had perfect obedience (Behzadnia, Denny trans. 35). God too, in a way, disciplined Ibrahim’s submission through commanding him to sacrifice his beloved son Ismail. If God disciplined a Prophet to the point of complete submission, then the rest of humanity is obligated to submit as well for its own salvation. Discipline tells us that things are not randomly organized, neither is man. Man’s existence means something beyond particles and atoms, and he is not born out of mere chance. There is an arrangement present in the universe and he is arranged in a Master-save relationship with God. It is faith in this relationship that positions man with respect to God, Who is the centre, joins the finite (man) with the Infinite (God), and explains the purpose of life. But first man has to realize and admit his finiteness and for that he has to become an ordinary person with a simple life, heart and mind. The spirit of exertion and struggle in performing Say’ explain the hope that ordinary people have in the worst of situations. If Hajar, faced with hopelessness regarding her and her son’s survival, lived on, toiled around the mountains, and had hope, then the elite, the privileged facing void in their lives have no case for hopelessness. They too should move on, live on, take initiative and action, but all of this should be done by taking cues from the ordinary lowly person like Hajar, who endured and worked hard with hope and faith alive in the heart.

This orientation is possible in every man through the pseudo-knowledge. For Shariati, knowledge, consciousness and love in the rituals done at Arafat, Mashar and Mina respectively reflect this primordial nature. A Hajji goes to Arafat (knowledge) first, indicating that man naturally knows the meaning of life, before he is even aware of it. Knowledge coming before consciousness also means that one need not deliberately find a reason for living, or happiness in actions. Just like happiness is not something to be pursued, “it must ensue”, as Frankl rightly puts it (162), meaning of life also evades our minds but is always present in the heart in the form of knowledge, consciousness or love. One can find a similar relationship between Tawaf and Say’: an ordinary man must have faith and the ability to submit first, and then hope and optimism in rough times are possible. The last of three stages of Hajj is Mina (love), where one’s act of throwing pebbles at the Satan and celebrating victory (in the event of ‘Id) both take place. This signifies that in man’s primordial essence or nature is love – which is the ultimate state of the heart. Faith, submission and hope are imperfect and incomplete in understanding the lives of the ordinary people is love is not taken into account. While faith can give meaning to life, love makes life easier to live and meaning easier to remember at all times. Love for God allows one to suffer any how, endure any suffering, and find meaning in any endurance. It is like a weapon that allows the ordinary man to feel distinct, like Shariati mentions the impact that being in Mina among thousands of soldiers of God have on the self. This is interesting since Shariati calls Mina as the “battlefront” (29) yet the ordinary person is immersed in love because it stems not from his whims but faith, submission, knowledge and awareness of a higher purpose and cause. Hence he can fight, because for Shariati, “For the sake of truth and out of love, anything can be sacrificed” (42). Of all the things, love is surely one thing not reserved to those rational, objective or those indulged in high ideals, culture and development. It is specifically one aspect absent from the realm of science, as vividly explained by Nietzsche . Obsession with objectivity makes the scientific man unable to bear, beget, love or hate, all of which are defining features of the ordinary man and the Hajji. For Shariati, Hajj encompasses the three elements present in the heart, which suffice to bring a man to meaning in life, through the process of being one of the thousands of ordinary people at one place.

The insights offered by Shariati and Tolstoy into the features of ordinary people sheds light on the need to be active in life actions and decisions in order to save the self from episodes of anomie, meaninglessness and disenchantment, or worse: apathy. The texts call for caution against the potential apathy guised in ‘objectivity’ and science, and against the tendency to overdo the search for the true, good and the beautiful in the domain of liberal arts. One has to feel like an ordinary person to allow meaning to ensue like happiness, if one starts with the assumption that meaning is out there – regardless of whether it is native in the self or acquired. The perceptions of the two authors have been helpful to the extent of stimulating my mind to consciously make decisions. They made me realize that the seemingly “objective” reasons for which I took to take this course – to fulfill course requirements, to learn a new discipline – regress to the overarching meaning I hold of life, as a production and reflection of the favors and expectations from God, to which I must come up to by way of the means I have at my disposal. There is no decision, even as mundane as picking an elective course, that doesn’t reflect the underlying meaning applied to life. As it was discussed in the earliest sessions of the course, no matter what we are doing, what emotions we are feeling, our actions and decisions are an answer to what we conceive as the true, the good and the beautiful.

However, there is one thing that can render all of this exercise futile, and that is being trapped in the desirous lower self. The lower self – which I would define as a bunch of whims and desires, such as greed, lust – is not even bothered with the question pertaining to the meaning of life, for the lower self lives in the moment only and the true, good and the beautiful is indulgence in the moment only. If the notion of time is excluded, the meaning of life doesn’t even arise, and any level of discussion and insight offered by Shariati, Tolstoy, a man of science, a man from the liberal arts or an ordinary man makes no difference, for the first principle of “having a life” is denied by the lower self that just believes in living the moment. If the human being is trapped in gratifying lower self, then the most important question on the meaning of life completely ceases to be a question at all, but then we also need to ask whether the human being remains human anymore.

WORKS CITED

Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning. Pocket Books, 1984.

Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Al Munqidh min al-Dalal, translated as Deliverance From Error by R.K McCarthy, Louiseille, KY: Fons vitae, 2000.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. “We Scholars” from Beyond Good and Evil.

Shariati, Ali. Hajj, translated as The Pilgrimage by Ali A. Behzadnia, M.D. & Najla Denny. Jubilee Press.

Tolstoy, Lev. A Confession, edited by A.D.P Briggs, Everyman.

I am a graduate ...?

Taken from Haq Islam.org.

A Message to University Graduates

Aug 4th, 2006

by Amatullah.

 

Earlier this week I was part of a group that was invited to attend a University Graduation ceremony. Someone dear to me will also be graduating soon and some very good general advice was given at the ceremony I attended, so I decided to write this little message up to Muslim University Graduates.
Graduation day is the culmination of 3-5 years of studying a particular subject in depth at degree level. You have spent these years studying because you realise that education is a means to attaining a good career and perceive it to lead to a better way of life.

At this significant stage in your life, you are experiencing the transition from being a student through to a professional who will soon be working in the ‘real’ world. With this transition comes the need to prepare yourself in dealing with issues that may arise in the workplace, not due to trivialities such as race etc but mainly because of your religion.

Whilst many undergraduates become closer to their deen at university thanks to the efforts of ISOCs and associations, for those of us who will be going out into the workplace where their will be a minority muslim workforce or where contact with fellow muslims will be limited, it is especially vital for us to hold on to our deen; That is YOUR ISLAM.

If during your university days, you were unable to ‘get involved’ with the Muslim community, make this the starting point of change in your life.

“The one who treads a path seeking therein knowledge, Allah eases his path to the Garden.” [Sahih Muslim]

We must fully realise that our ultimate purpose in this dunya is to serve Allah Ta’ala and that our ultimate goal is to reach Jannah in the akhira (hereafter). Therefore your focus should now, be on adopting the means to achieve this eternal goal, i.e. adopting the teachings of Islam and following the Sunnah of our beloved messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

This does not mean that you have to become a hermit and retreat to some remote jungle to spend the rest of your days engaged in ibaadah. In fact we must live in the dunya but work for the akhira. What does this mean? This means that we must attempt to the best of our ability to seek deeni knowledge into at least the basic fundamentals of our religion. For example start from the basic fiqh of cleanliness and prayer and then move onto more advanced areas of the shariah such as the etiquettes of trading and business, especially for the field of work that you will soon enter into. You may also decide to study the fiqh of Nikaah and Talaaq because sooner or later if not already you will be approaching the stage where you will marry and eventually settle down with a family. These are just suggestions that hope to serve as an example of how YOU can tread that path to bring you closer to your Lord Allah Ta’ala and how you can balance the work of this world with the work of the akhira, Inshallah Ta’ala.

Whilst we have covered the importance of learning about our religion to benefit us in the hereafter, it is also necessary to learn about Islam so that we may be in a position to answer any questions that non-Muslim work colleagues may pose to us genuinely or out of curiosity.

Islam is in the spotlight; the media reports and the people see. Hence situations are bound to arise where you will be asked questions about Islam. It is therefore important that we should be equipped with the correct answers and teachings of Islam rather than substituting it with your own logic. Using your own logic in most cases will mean that you won’t be sharing the ‘true’ teachings and views of Islam and instead could be causing confusion and misinterpretation of our beautiful deen. Remember, what you say/ utter is what most people will think of Islam; so think before you speak.

Graduation also means that you have acquired a certain status in society as well as now being able to place certain letters after your name. One should, however, remember that in Islam there is no superiority of one over another except through taqwa.

“…Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa. …” [Surah Hujurat V13]

Also, never look down upon anyone or let pride set into your heart as a result of your education. Any status we can obtain in the world is of no value whatsoever if Allah is displeased with us. Remember we should look at the people below us in the dunya, so that we may make shukr for what Allah Ta’ala has given us, and we should compete with the people above us in the matters of deen so that we may become closer to Allah Ta’ala.

After graduation some of you may return to your home town/ city whilst others remain living away from home to continue studies or work. We should reflect on how we travelled away from home to acquire our worldly education and if need be we must prepared to travel to acquire ‘deeni education’ and benefit also. We are aware of how our pious predecessors would travel years and years to obtain deeni knowledge, but that was a sacrifice that they were willing to make. We have vast arrays of modern technology to aid us, not only that; we have Masjids and Khanqahs where we can learn from the pious. Make the most of the means and resources that Allah Ta’ala has blessed you with.

I pray Allah Ta’ala fills our working lives with blessings and they are not a distraction to us from striving to achieve taqwa and, ultimately, jannah in the hereafter.

Jazakallah to Sister Mujahidah for her help in putting together this article.

Good Night

In Your Name o Lord I lay to sleep
to rise in the morning by Your Leave
if you take my soul from me as i rest,
please forgive me
and if i wake in the morning again,
to a new and bright day
then i pray You Will always Guide me
upon the straight way

La ilaaha illa-LLAH
laa ilaaha illa-LLAH
subhaanAllah
alhumduliLLAH
Allahu Akbar

La ilaaha illa-LLAH

laa ilaaha illa-LLAH
subhaanAllah
alhumduliLLAH
Allahu Akbar

                       - Dawud Wharnsby

ProductiveMuslim Sleep Routine

by ProductiveMuslim on March 13, 2011

Posted on Sunday, March 13, 2011

 

If you’ve started waking up early and working in those early hours of the day as we recommend at ProductiveMuslim.com, you’ll find that it’s pretty hard to be consistent each and every day with this routine. And when you search for the reasons for this inconsistency, you’ll realise that it’s mainly because it’s hard to regulate your sleep; one day you sleep well, so you wake up early and can work hard. Other days, you don’t sleep so well and those early hours are pretty difficult to maintain.

Sleep, as any other activity we do as humans, can be optimized by planning well in advance and following a particular routine each night. You might think: “Dude, I just crash and sleep”. Well, that’s one way of doing it, but here’s another routine. Try it out and tell me if sleep doesn’t become a rewarding, spiritual and fulfilling experience for you after this.

The following sleep routine requires you to prepare for it at least 90 minutes BEFORE you actually sleep. And it’s basically dividing those 90 minutes into 3 parts:

One third for Your Lord

One third for Your Self

One third for Your Sleep

1. One third for Your Lord:

This starts with you making wudhu, brushing your teeth, putting on nice clothes and perfume and praying Tahajjud and Witr for Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) (Note: If you prefer to wake up before Fajr to pray these night prayers then definitely go with that. However, if you can’t trust yourself to wake up that early, it’s better that you pray Tahajjud and Witr Salah BEFORE you sleep). This is my favourite part of the sleep routine and favourite part of the day!

It’s such a calming experience after going through a long hard day, to stand in front of your Lord, recite His verses, supplicate to Him and ask Him of whatever you desire in this world and the Next. Do this for a couple of nights and you wouldn’t want to give up doing it! In fact, throughout your day, you’ll be anticipating this moment and looking forward to it!

2. One third for Your Self:

This is where you prepare yourself for sleep by putting on your pyjamas, getting into bed and reading a good book for at least 30 minutes. If you’re like me, ideas and thoughts will keep popping into your head as you read, and you will want to save them for later. For these, I have a plain notebook and pen/pencil next to me to scribble anything (and I mean anything) that pops in my head! You’ll be surprised how many great ideas originate from these 30 minutes.

Alternatively, instead of reading, you may spend these 30 minutes brainstorming on a plain notebook any ideas,plans, and projects you have in mind. You don’t have to come up with the ‘perfect’ idea/solution, but simply brainstorm as much as you can then literally “sleep on it” (as the saying goes). In the morning, you’ll be surprised at what your sub-conscious mind brings forth for you.

3. One third for Your Sleep:

I’ve said that this is a third for your sleep, but truly this is a third for your Lord to bless your sleep, and basically this involves going through the duas and verses that one should recite before sleeping as per the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These include reciting Surah Al-Mulk and Surah Al-Sajdah and other supplications recommended before sleeping. For me, this last part of the routine is like the cherry on top of the cake! Nothing fills you with more tranquility than to sleep having uttered the words of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala).

So there you have it, the ProductiveMuslim routine for Sleep. You may think it’s lengthy, but there has been no day that I’ve followed it, except that I’ve slept peacefully and woken up peacefully.

Hope it works well for you and that you have a productive sleep – Sweet dreams!

taken from ProductiveMuslim.com

Summer 2011: Lessons Learnt

and relearnt:

1. there is no place like home
2. one should never ever take advantage of somebody's sharafat
3. he who remains silent is saved
4. it is possible to "gain" a loss in the long run
5. the most valuable asset of a mumin is his Imaan
6. what matters at the end of any interaction with any non-muslim is shahadah
أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمد (صلي الله عليه وسلم) رسول الله
7. bottomline of any dialogue is that Allah Is Great. الله أكبر
8. your suhbat can make or break your peace of mind and heart
9. i can never get tired of having roti
10. ghaza in need is chicken saalan indeed, always
11. seafood is marvellous
12. we can never truly appreciate the merit, impact and importance of adhan in our lives
13. Allahu Wali-yul-mumineen
14. a major cause of american mediocrity is tv.
15. the fazeelat of Sunnah is enormous, regardless of who's following it.
16. Allah Takes Care
17. Allah's Way Works
18. a lot of things start working positively and automatically if trust is put in the right place
19. my failure to do something good is a combination of lack of ability, acceptance and confidence
20. a smile and good manners can do wonders
21. personal, private, public plans should be happily dismissed in front of providential Will.
22. arrogance is the scariest and worst thing
23. i am afraid to even think about the consequences of he who is insolent towards the Deen of Islam
24. every muslim has a home: masjid
25. i do not miss LUMS as much as i thought i would
26. dinky is cool
27. i will always enjoy race games
28. sunlight, sunshine and sunray, all mark the start of my happy day
29. Allah is Wayyyyy Above and Beyond what we humans can think, imagine or perceive

to be continued as and when more lessons will be recollected